S.Korea court to reassign Samsung chief bribery case to another judge

SEOUL, March 17 (Reuters) - A South Korean court said on Friday it is reassigning the bribery case of Samsung Group chief Jay Y. Lee to a different judge.

A court official said which judge would take the case had not been decided and she did not comment on the reason for the reassignment.

An opposition lawmaker on Thursday voiced suspicion that the father-in-law of the judge initially assigned to the case provided financial support to Choi Soon-sil, a key confidant of former President Park Geun-hye.

Lee was indicted by a special prosecution team in February on several charges including paying bribes to a company and foundations backed by Choi to curry favour.

A court spokesman told Reuters on Thursday the lawmaker’s accusations were not true.

Lee, whose trial began on March 9, and Samsung have denied wrongdoing.

Park was dismissed as president by the Constitutional Court on Friday last week. (Reporting by Se Young Lee and Joyce Lee; Editing by Robert Birsel)